An Analysis of Workplace-Based Assessments for Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency: Does Type of Clinical Assessor Influence Level of Supervision Ratings?

PURPOSE: The authors describe use of the workplace-based assessment (WBA) coactivity scale according to entrustable professional activities (EPAs) and assessor type to examine how diverse assessors rate medical students using WBAs. METHOD: A WBA data collection system was launched at Oregon Health and Science University to visualize learner competency in various clinical settings to foster EPA assessment. WBA data from January 14 to June 18, 2021, for medical students (all years) were analyzed. The outcome variable was level of supervisor involvement in each EPA, and the independent variable was assessor type. RESULTS: A total of 7,809 WBAs were included. Most fourth-, third-, and second-year students were assessed by residents or fellows (755 [49.5%], 1,686 [48.5%], and 918 [49.9%], respectively) and first-year students by attending physicians (803 [83.0%]; P < .001). Attendings were least likely to use the highest rating of 4 (1 was available just in case; 2,148 [56.7%] vs 2,368 [67.7%] for residents; P < .001). Learners more commonly sought WBAs from attendings for EPA 2 (prioritize differential diagnosis), EPA 5 (document clinical encounter), EPA 6 (provide oral presentation), EPA 7 (form clinical questions and retrieve evidence-based medicine), and EPA 12 (perform general procedures of a physician). Residents and fellows were more likely to assess students on EPA 3 (recommend and interpret diagnostic and screening tests), EPA 4 (enter and discuss orders and prescriptions), EPA 8 (give and receive patient handover for transitions in care), EPA 9 (collaborate as member of interprofessional team), EPA 10 (recognize and manage patient in need of urgent care), and EPA 11 (obtain informed consent). CONCLUSIONS: Learners preferentially sought resident versus attending supervisors for different EPA assessments. Future research should investigate why learners seek different assessors more frequently for various EPAs and if assessor type variability in WBA levels holds true across institutions.

Impact of Students' Scheduling Choice on Clerkship Examination Score Performance in a Time-Varying Competency-Based Curriculum.

PURPOSE: Standardized end-of-clerkship examinations typically occur on the last day of the clerkship. However, recent trends toward time-varying competency-based medical education have offered students more test scheduling flexibility, creating an opportunity to study the impact of student-selected examination timing. METHOD: Starting with the graduating class of 2018, students took the required standardized end-of-core clerkship examinations at any available time they chose during their clinical years. Before this change, these examinations were administered to all students on the last day of the clerkship. Students' examination dates relative to clerkship completion were analyzed between 2017 and 2020 (inclusive of before and after flexible exam timing) to assess the impact that student-selected exam timing had on test performance on National Board of Medical Examiners shelf clinical science examinations for required core clerkships. RESULTS: Data on 146 medical students in 2017 (fixed exam timing) and 466 medical students between 2018 and 2020 (flexible exam timing) were included. Among students offered flexible exam timing, between 2.7% (internal medicine) and 14.6% (psychiatry) took their exam before actually taking clerkship, while between 22.7% (psychiatry) and 40.0% (surgery) took their exam more than 90 days after the clerkship ended. Exam scores were statistically higher for those who took the exam at a time of their choosing compared with those who were required to take it at the end of individual rotations and when the exam scores were combined (fixed exam timing mean = 73.9, standard deviation [SD] = 7.8; flexible exam timing mean = 77.4, SD = 6.0, P < .001). The percent of students with passing scores was statistically higher in internal medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry. CONCLUSIONS: Self-selection of shelf exam timing appears to increase shelf exam scores. As more medical schools transition to competency-based medical education, providing scheduling flexibility appears not to negatively affect student achievement.

The Virtual Interview Experience: Perspectives of Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Applicants.

Background: Because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, graduate medical education programs adopted virtual interviews (VIs) as the default modality for the 2020 recruitment season. It is unknown whether VIs allowed applicants to effectively evaluate programs, and the best interview format for the future is unclear. Objective: To 1) assess pulmonary and critical care applicants' perceived ability to evaluate programs using VIs, 2) determine the attitudes of applicants toward the components of VIs, and 3) identify applicants' preferences for the future fellowship interview format. Methods: After the National Residency Matching Program medical subspecialty match, an electronic survey was sent to 1,067 applicants to pulmonary and critical care medicine programs asking them to compare their fellowship VI experience with their residency in-person interview (IPI) experience. Results: Three hundred six (29%) applicants responded to the survey, and 289 completed it (27%). There were 117 (40%) women and 146 (51%) White individuals. Most respondents believed that VIs hindered their ability to evaluate programs' culture, faculty-fellow relationships, location, facilities, and their own fit within the program. They believed they were able to evaluate the clinical experience, curriculum, and potential for academic development equally well compared with IPIs. The most helpful elements of VIs were the interview with the program director, meetings with the fellows, and interviews with faculty members. Less helpful elements included conference access, prerecorded program director presentations, virtual hospital and city tours, and video testimonials. One hundred twenty-three respondents (43%) chose VIs with an optional visit as their preferred future interview format, 85 (29%) chose IPIs, 54 (19%) wanted a choice between VIs and IPIs, and 27 (9%) chose VIs only. Conclusion: Most pulmonary and critical care medicine applicants preferred future interviews to include both VIs and the option of an in-person visit or interview. This study can assist programs in designing their future interview formats in a trainee-centric fashion.

Three days after a single exposure to ozone, the mechanism of airway hyperreactivity is dependent on substance P and nerve growth factor.

Ozone causes persistent airway hyperreactivity in humans and animals. One day after ozone exposure, airway hyperreactivity is mediated by release of eosinophil major basic protein that inhibits neuronal M(2) muscarinic receptors, resulting in increased acetylcholine release and increased smooth muscle contraction in guinea pigs. Three days after ozone, IL-1ß, not eosinophils, mediates ozone-induced airway hyperreactivity, but the mechanism at this time point is largely unknown. IL-1ß increases NGF and the tachykinin substance P, both of which are involved in neural plasticity. These experiments were designed to test whether there is a role for NGF and tachykinins in sustained airway hyperreactivity following a single ozone exposure. Guinea pigs were exposed to filtered air or ozone (2 parts per million, 4 h). In anesthetized and vagotomized animals, ozone potentiated vagally mediated airway hyperreactivity 24 h later, an effect that was sustained over 3 days. Pretreatment with antibody to NGF completely prevented ozone-induced airway hyperreactivity 3 days, but not 1 day, after ozone and significantly reduced the number of substance P-positive airway nerve bundles. Three days after ozone, NK(1) and NK(2) receptor antagonists also blocked this sustained hyperreactivity. Although the effect of inhibiting NK(2) receptors was independent of ozone, the NK(1) receptor antagonist selectively blocked vagal hyperreactivity 3 days after ozone. These data confirm mechanisms of ozone-induced airway hyperreactivity change over time and demonstrate 3 days after ozone that there is an NGF-mediated role for substance P, or another NK(1) receptor agonist, that enhances acetylcholine release and was not present 1 day after ozone.

Pathogenesis of bronchiectasis.

The pathogenesis of bronchiectasis cannot be explained by a single cause. The current model is a vicious cycle of inflammation and altered response to infection. This cycle depends not only on the type and virulence of the pathogen but also on the host immune response. In this response, too much or too little can damage the airways or fail to clear the pathogen, thus increasing the probability of further infection. This review describes the changes and advancement in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis, including mechanisms of injury and host factors.

Muscarinic receptor antagonists, from folklore to pharmacology; finding drugs that actually work in asthma and COPD.

In the lungs, parasympathetic nerves provide the dominant control of airway smooth muscle with release of acetylcholine onto M3 muscarinic receptors. Treatment of airway disease with anticholinergic drugs that block muscarinic receptors began over 2000 years ago. Pharmacologic data all indicated that antimuscarinic drugs should be highly effective in asthma but clinical results were mixed. Thus, with the discovery of effective ß-adrenergic receptor agonists the use of muscarinic antagonists declined. Lack of effectiveness of muscarinic antagonists is due to a variety of factors including unwanted side effects (ranging from dry mouth to coma) and the discovery of additional muscarinic receptor subtypes in the lungs with sometimes competing effects. Perhaps the most important problem is ineffective dosing due to poorly understood differences between routes of administration and no effective way of testing whether antagonists block receptors stimulated physiologically by acetylcholine. Newer muscarinic receptor antagonists are being developed that address the problems of side effects and receptor selectivity that appear to be quite promising in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.